Where Do We Go From Here
by LLFOREVER
Summary: We all need a knight in shining whatever. For Meredith Grey, it's Derek Shepherd, whether she likes it or not.
1. Prologue

Where Do We Go From Here

Rating: PG-13  
Pairings: Derek/Meredith  
Summary: We all need a knight in shining whatever. For Meredith Grey, it's Derek Shepherd, whether she likes it or not.  
A/N: Okay, I know I should be working on _Three_ or _Crash_, but… this popped into my head and it's begging to be let out. You know the drill – Read. Love. Review.

* * *

Prologue 

Meredith Grey stands still, peering out into the dark sky from the observation deck of the Seattle Space Needle. Technically, it should be closed right now. Apparently, technicalities don't matter when you're Derek Shepherd because here they are. Meredith isn't sure why Derek wanted to come here after midnight anyway, but he won't disclose any information about why they're there.

"The view is beautiful," Meredith says. She turns and expects to see Derek beside her, but she blinks in confusion when he's not. "Derek?"

Derek Shepherd can't hold back his grin when he sees the confused yet relaxed look on Meredith's face. Quietly, he walks up behind her and slips his arms around her waist. He teases her with soft kisses along her neck and almost wishes that other people weren't coming to join them.

"What's going on?" Meredith tries to sound serious, but she fails miserably. Derek's hands are now roaming around her neckline, and she's having trouble standing straight, let alone be serious.

Derek sighs softly, and then he spins Meredith to face him. Somehow, after all they've been through, her eyes still manage to hold a sort of blissful innocence.

"I can't take my eyes off you. There's no good explanation for how this happened. I was supposed to be done. But then I came out here, and I met you, and I realized that I hadn't even started.

"You were never just a girl in a bar, not to me. I fell in love with you, and that didn't go away because I stayed with Addison. I'm in love with you forever.

"The others are here. They need you to… I need you to… to choose…" Meredith's even breaths suddenly become more ragged, and she stares at Derek's ice blue eyes.

"This sounds vaguely familiar," she whispers. Tears fill Derek's eyes as he nods.

"I cannot lose you, not again."

* * *

A/N: I know this was short, but… it should be interesting. The next chapter should be up by… dare I say tonight or tomorrow, but almost definitely before Thursday night! 


	2. Chapter 1

Where Do We Go From Here

Rating: PG-13  
Pairings: Derek/Meredith, hints of Alex/Addison  
Summary: We all need a knight in shining whatever. For Meredith Grey, it's Derek Shepherd, whether she likes it or not.  
A/N: _Grey's Anatomy_ tonight! Read. Love. Review. By the way, I don't own the show. Whatever. It's cool. Not really, but… I'm dealing with it by staring at pictures of George Clooney and Patrick Dempsey.

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Chapter 1

Derek stares at Meredith's lifeless body and barely manages to hold back the tears that have been threatening to fall since he pulled her out of the water. He vaguely remembers someone giving him a towel in the ambulance and then Bailey making him change into a long sleeve shirt and scrubs.

What he does remember is doing rescue breathing. He remembers rushing Meredith to an ambulance and using his own body heat to try to keep her warm. He remembers watching Bailey set up warming blankets and a lavage kit to try to combat hypothermia.

"Talk to her," Bailey says quietly. "She needs to hear your voice." Derek nods, almost imperceptibly. He pulls up a chair beside Meredith and takes one of her hands in his. He tries not to focus on the endotracheal tube helping her breathe or the IV providing warm fluids to help maintain her body temperature.

"I can't take my eyes off you," Derek says. His voice is hoarse and ragged, but he continues to speak, undeterred by the presence of the other interns and attendings. "I can't take my eyes off you. There's no good explanation for how this happened. I was supposed to be done. With Addison. She's here right now. But then I met you. And even though I was supposed to be done, I realized I hadn't even started.

"You were never just a girl in a bar, not to me. I fell in love with you, and that didn't go away because I decided to stay with Addison. I'm in love with you forever.

"The others are here. Izzie, George, Cristina, Alex, Addison, Bailey… and I even let Mark come in. They're all here. They need you to choose life. I need you to choose life," Derek says, shuddering with tears.

"I cannot lose you," he whispers.  
--  
Alex has always been the bold one. For some reason, he and Meredith have a strictly platonic friendship that neither of them would ever dare change. He thinks it may be because of their shared past. Granted, his mother isn't Ellis Grey, but they both grew up with absent fathers. He figures the physical presence of his father doesn't count.

They're both dark and twisty, and she gets that more than anyone else. He could almost call Meredith his best friend. They don't have long conversations about the meaning of their existence, but they're there for each other when they need it.

And so, when Shepherd clearly wants someone else to talk to Meredith, Alex steps forward first. He takes the first step not because he knows what to say but because he knows no one else will. But somehow, the words flow out. They always seem to flow out when he's around Meredith.

"You really need to go ahead and wake up. Cut the suspense so we can have guy talk. I would talk to O'Malley, but… he doesn't count." George made a slight squeak of protest, but Cristina's glare stopped him from commenting. Alex shifts and then bends down to whisper into Meredith's ear.

"I also have money riding on you waking up within two hours, so if you could help me out there, I'll tell you about my secret pain."  
--  
Addison isn't quite sure how she got here. Obviously, she came out for a consult, tried to fight for her husband, and then stayed, but she doesn't know how she came to be in her ex-husband's girlfriend's room. Sure, Meredith is a great doctor, and she has a lot of potential, but that still doesn't explain why she feels a need to be there.

When Alex steps away from the bed and glances at Addison, she feels her heart screaming out to the clearly exhausted intern. As he leaves the room, she feels a newly familiar urge to go after him. Instead, she goes up to Meredith's bed and thinks about the last time she was at Meredith's bedside.

"I don't hate you. I know everyone thinks that I must hate you, but I don't. I don't hate you. I actually admire you. I never wanted to save my marriage, not really. I thought I did, but I think I just wanted to prove that I hadn't let my husband walk away from what we used to be. The thing is… we hadn't been that couple for a long time. Before Mark, before all of that. And I admire that you let me try, even though it hurt you.

"I think we could be friends. As odd as that sounds, I think we could be friends. Not by proxy, but by choice."  
--  
In the short time that Mark has known Meredith, he has come to adore her, almost like a sister. Derek grew up with sisters, but he never had any that were really his own. Somehow, Meredith has become that sister that he can tease and harass as much as he wants. Granted, making her treat a patient with bedsores may be a little cruel, but he has a reputation to uphold. He can't go soft on Meredith, especially because he knows that whatever he does will irk Derek the wrong way.

Mark looks at the remaining people in the room, after Addison makes a quick exit. Not wanting to be outdone by Karev, he decides to talk next. He almost laughs to himself when he remembers that Addison has already left the room, so he really doesn't have anyone to impress. Nevertheless, he ignores the warning glares that Derek is currently giving him, and he sits on the corner of Meredith's bed.

"My favorite dirty mistress… you don't look too hot right now, Grey. Derek looks like he wants to punch me again, so I'll make this quick. I'll even make you a deal. Wake up within 24 hours, and I'll go home."  
--  
Alex doesn't have to look up from his place on the lower bunk in the on-call room to know that Addison has entered the room. The way she walks, even in her tennis shoes, is a dead giveaway.

"I need to know what's going on," she says. Alex cringes inwardly. He saw this coming a long time ago, but he still doesn't have an answer. The real truth is that he's afraid to get close to Addison because he's afraid of hurting her like Shepherd and Sloan did. He doesn't want to be that person who hurts her again, but he's afraid he doesn't know how to be anyone else.

"I need to know what's going on because you're… you're looking at me. You shouldn't be looking at me, Alex. Not unless…" Alex sits up and pulls Addison to sit beside him. Her use of his first name doesn't go unnoticed.

"Unless what?" he whispers. "Unless I want you? Not just in your pants want you, but all of you. Unless you scare me more than any other woman I know? Unless I think I fell for you a long time ago? Unless I think I would like to be with you? Unless what, Addison?"

"Yeah," she says quietly. "Unless that." Before Alex can reply, they're interrupted by the beep of their pagers. He doesn't even have to look to know that it's Meredith. After all, they're the dark and twisty ones.  
--  
A/N: Okay… I'm not crazy about the ending, but I kind of liked when they all talked to Meredith. I should have had everyone talk to her, but I wanted to wrap this chapter up. Review and watch _Grey's Anatomy_. It's what Jesus would freaking do.


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